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Migration

Calcium influx is moving

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 9, pages 230–231 (2009)Cite this article

ORAI1 (also known as CRACM1) and stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) are involved in regulating store-operated Ca2+ influx in non-excitable cells: STIM1 is a Ca2+ sensor and ORAI1 is part of the pore that enables store-operated Ca2+ entry. On testing a variety of inhibitors of ion channels that enable Ca2+ influx, the authors found that the inhibition of store-operated channels suppressed serum-induced cell migration. Further experiments using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to target STIM1 or ORAI1 indicated that these proteins are required for the migration of MDA-MB-231 human breast tumour cells in vitro.

Why do cells with reduced levels of ORAI1 and STIM1 have impaired migration? Further analyses showed that the assembly and disassembly of focal adhesions, which are known to be crucial for cellular migration, were blocked in these cells. This defect could be overcome by the expression of either constitutively active Ras or RAC1. Moreover, expression of active RAC1 was able to overcome the migration defect induced by siRNAs to either ORAI1 or STIM1.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Yang, S., Zhang, J. J. & Huang, X.-Y. Orai1 and STIM1 are critical for breast cancer cell migration and metastasis. Cancer Cell 15, 124–134 (2009)

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Authors
  1. Nicola McCarthy
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McCarthy, N. Calcium influx is moving. Nat Rev Cancer 9, 230–231 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2629

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